Lao PDR launches climate change action plan with UNDP

Mar 24, 2016

The UNDP and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s new project to combat climate change was launched last week in a signing ceremony by H.E. Sommad Pholsena, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and Ms. Kaarina Immonen, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Lao PDR.

Vientiane, 24 March, 2016 - Climate change is a real threat to the development of Lao PDR, which is already experiencing increasing incidence of extreme weather events like flooding and drought.

In a country where approximately 80 per cent of the population rely on some form of agricultural activity for the livlihoods, climate change has the potential to negatively affect a large portion of the population.

At last year’s Paris climate change conference, Lao PDR joined over 190 countries from around the world in agreeing to an ambitious climate change action plan by submitting Lao PDR's INDC.

This was accomplished in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with robust, cross-sectoral stakeholder consultations and supported by the UNDP, the European Commission and the British Embassy.

Through the INDC project, the UNDP is now working with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement Lao PDR’s climate action plan and strengthen engagement in the global dialogue for climate action, in-line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Action.

The project is supported by the Global Environment Facility.

As a next step in implementation of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will convene a high level signing ceremony on 22 April 2016 in New York, USA, and the agreement can only enter into force once it has been ratified by 55 countries, representing at least 55 per cent of gloabl emissions.

Find out more about the UNDP's Environment and Energy work in Lao PDR

The Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided $14.5 billion in grants and mobilized $75.4 billion in additional financing for almost 4,000 projects.